The God and the Siren (Loki Romance)

Chapter Fifteen

Today's the day. Or rather, tonight is the night—it's time to go to Switzerland.

Ordinarily, I give myself about an hour to get ready before going anywhere. When I have to board a plane, however, someone could beat me with a red hot poker and I still wouldn't bother with any of it. I was also told not to sleep the night before, so I would sleep on the plane and reduce my jet lag suffering somewhat.

We're at the airport now, and it's sometime around 7 PM. Despite the bright lights shining on our faces, I find myself drifting in and out of sleep. It looks like everyone else followed the instructions too—Thor's snoring, Heimdall's drifting in and out of shuteye, Sif is sleeping silently, and Loki's just sitting next to me, looking extra dour.

Pepper and Tony seem to be handling it just fine in the black chairs across from us, though—both wide awake and good to go. Maybe because they're used to flying so much?

"Group A," the intercom comes on in our gate. "Boarding now. Group A, please come to the front."

"That's us," Tony exhales heavily as he stands from the chair—maybe he's tired after all.

Heimdall nudges Thor awake, and Loki stands beside me. I rub the sleep out of my eyes momentarily, and feel a small knot forming in my stomach as I turn and look out the massive window, at our plane—the enormous, transatlantic plane parked at the terminal... And thanks to that, I no longer need help getting sleep to leave me.

Our seats are at the front of the plane—first class. Tony and Pepper are in two pairs of seats to the right, while myself, Thor, and Loki are in the middle. Sif and Heimdall are lastly situated to the far left.

As the rest of the passengers board the plane, I'm busy finding my first movie selection on the screen in front of me—landing on National Treasure. Also known as the most airplane-esque movie in the history of movies being played on airplanes.

Once everyone's found their seats, I exhale nervously when the engine finally begins to hum. I knit my brows together as I turn and look past Loki's profile—squeezing the donut pillow between my jaw and shoulder as I peer out the window past Heimdall and Sif, where lamps are illuminating the darkened ground outside.

Meanwhile, Sif and Heimdall are already fast asleep. I glance back to my right, seeing that Thor's asleep now too, and so is Pepper. Tony's the only one left awake, reading something on a tablet that's casting a dim light against his face.

"Here we go..." I whisper quietly as I turn back to the window.

In the seat next to me, Loki raises a brow and follows my eyes to it for a moment, before dropping his exhausted gaze back down to the book in his hands. As the seatbelt sign comes on, the plane suddenly comes to life with movement, and I swallow hard as I watch the ground roll forward as we back out of the terminal. The rest of the lights in the cabin flicker off, leaving just the dim little lamps shining down on our faces from overhead.

Loki closes the book and tucks it between himself and the leather seat, next to the little bar that also separates our seats just a bit. I watch as he exhales lightly through his nostrils and leans back against the headrest—closing his eyes.

But my eyes aren't closed—not even close. I'm tired as hell, but my eyes are glued on the window, watching the bright lights on the ground leading the plane to the takeoff point. I squeeze the leather handle, feeling my nervousness rise as the plane stops—and the engine hums loudly. Not a second later, the plane starts speeding forward down the driveway.

My breath is shaky as it comes out, and Loki's brow flickers before he opens his eyes and rolls his head slightly toward the side—looking at me. "Alright there?" he asks quietly.